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	SLK Concepts
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	<div class="Supertitle_">
		SharePoint Learning Kit Customization
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	SLK Concepts
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<div class="Summary">
<p>This section reviews basic SharePoint Learning Kit end-user concepts, and introduces a few other
underlying concepts that you should understand before reading further in this documentation set.
</p>
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<a name="Packages"></a>
<div class="SectionHeader">E-Learning Packages and Non-E-Learning Documents</div>
<div class="Section">

<p>In the context of SharePoint Learning Kit, a <b>package</b> is a file containing
e-learning content, in one of the following formats:</p>

<ul>
	<li>SCORM&reg; 2004, packaged in a .zip file</li>
	<li>SCORM 1.2, packaged in a .zip file</li>
	<li>Microsoft Class Server IMS+, packaged in a .ims or .zip file</li>
	<li>Microsoft Class Server LRM, packaged in a .lrm file</li>
</ul>

<p><a href="http://www.adlnet.gov/scorm">SCORM</a> (Sharable Content Object Reference Model), is an
e-learning content standard published by <a href="http://www.adlnet.gov">Advanced Distributed
Learning</a>.</p>

<p>These e-learning formats are interpreted by SLK at run-time, i.e. when a user "execute"
e-learning content.  Examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>In the case of SCORM 2004 content, sequencing and navigation rules are honored.</li>
	<li>In the case of SCORM 2004 or 1.2 content, a table of contents is displayed.</li>
	<li>In the case of Class Server content, learner responses are automatically graded (if
		specified in the content).</li>
</ul>

<p>An e-learning package contains one or more hierarchical trees of <b>activities</b>.
Each tree is called an <b>organization</b>; the root element of such a tree represents both
an organization and an activity.  (Class Server content is limited to one
organization with one further level of activities.) Each activity that's displayed to the user
appears as one page in a Web browser.  (Some activities, such as internal nodes in SCORM 2004
content, cannot be displayed to users.)  Certain kinds of activities, called <b>SCO</b>s (shareable content objects),
may contain user interface elements for interacting with the user (for example, to administer a
quiz), and those interactions are stored in the SLK database.</p>

<p>SLK also supports <b>non-e-learning</b> content, which can be any document that can be displayed
in a Web browser; for example, a Microsoft Word document.  SLK support for non-e-learning
documents is much simpler: files can be assigned, learners can indicate when they've completed
them, and instructors can assign a point score and comments, but SLK does not interpret
non-e-learning documents in any way.</p>

<p><b>Note</b>&nbsp;SLK does not support <b>resource packages</b>, i.e. packages that contain only
resources and no activities.  <a href="Mlc.htm">MLC</a> does provide limited support for resource
packages: you can read them with
<a href="Microsoft.LearningComponents.Manifest.ManifestReader.Class.htm">ManifestReader</a> and
you can validate them with
<a href="Microsoft.LearningComponents.PackageValidator.Class.htm">PackageValidator</a>.</p>

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<a name="Assignments"></a>
<div class="SectionHeader">Assignments and Learner Assignments</div>
<div class="Section">

<p>In SharePoint Learning Kit, an <b>assignment</b> is the association of one e-learning
package or non-e-learning document with a set of learners.  An assignment can be self-assigned; in
this case, there is one learner and no instructors.  An assignment includes the following
information:</p>
<ul>

	<li>The <b>SharePoint Web site</b> associated with the assignment.  Each assignment is
		associated with exactly one SharePoint Web site.  For example, assignments related to a
		"Math 1B" class could be associated with a "Math 1B" Web site.  SLK's Assignment List Web
		Part has the option of displaying all a user's assignments, or only those assignments
		associated with the current Web site.</li>

	<li>The <b>e-learning package or non-e-learning document</b> that's assigned.  The assigned
		package or document is stored in a SharePoint document library and isn't copied to SLK's
		database when the assignment is created.  As a result, if the package or document is
		deleted after the assignment is made, much of the assignment data will be inaccessible
		(except for information, such as the SCORM <a href="MlcDataModel.htm">data model</a>,
		tracked in SLK's database).  Similarly, if the package or document data is modified after
		the assignment is made, the results may be unpredictable (particularly in the case of
		e-learning content).  Note, however, that SharePoint and SLK support <b>versioning</b> of
		files within document libraries; for example, if version 1.0 of a file is assigned and a
		subsequent version 2.0 of that file is changed or deleted, version 1.0 will continue to be
		accessible to learners and instructors.</li>

	<li>Any number of <b>instructors</b>.  The association of one instructor with one assignment is
		called an <b>instructor assignment</b>.  (Self-assigned content has no
		instructors.)  An instructor assignment consists only of the association between the
		assignment and the instructor.</li>

	<li>Any number of <b>learners</b>.  The association of one learner with one assignment is
		called a <b>learner assignment</b>.  A learner assignment includes the following
		information:
		<ul>
			<li>The identity of the learner.</li>
			<li>The number of points awarded by the instructor during grading.  This value is
				optional and may be blank.</li>
			<li>Comments from the instructor, if any.  SLK's grading user interface includes a
			    small auto-grow text box to allow entry of comments about each learner
				assignment.</li>
			<li>A boolean value indicating whether the assignment is "final".  In this state,
				the points awarded and comments from the instructor are visible to the learner.
				</li>
			<li>For assignments of non-e-learning documents, a non-"final" learner assignment
				includes additional status information: whether it's active (i.e. in progress)
				or completed (i.e. submitted to the instructor).</li>
			<li>For assignments of e-learning packages, a potentially large amount of information
				is maintained in the <i>attempt</i> associated with the package, as described
				below.</li>
		</ul></li>

	<li>The <b>title</b> of the assignment.  For assigned e-learning packages the title defaults
		to the title stored in the package's manifest; for non-e-learning documents the file name
		is used.  In either case, the title can be changed by the instructor.</li>

	<li>The <b>description</b> of the assignment.  For e-learning packages the description defaults
		to the description stored in the package's manifest; for non-e-learning documents the
		description is blank by default.  In either case, the description can be changed by the
		instructor.</li>

	<li>The <b>start date/time</b> of the assignment.  Learners cannot access the assignment before
		this date/time.</li>

	<li>The <b>due date/time</b> of the assignment.  Learners <u>can</u> access the assignment
		after this date/time, but the assignment is shown as being overdue.  (Note that the
		instructor can "collect" assignments, i.e. take them back from learners, at any time.)
		The due date/time is optional.</li>

	<li>The nominal number of <b>points possible</b> on the assignment.  The actual number of
		points awarded may be higher than this amount.  This value is optional.  For Class Server
		content, this value defaults to the number stored in the package.  For SCORM 2004 packages
		this value defaults to 100 (since scores used in SCORM 2004 content are typically scaled to
		the range 0.0 to 1.0, displayed as 0 to 100 percent in SLK).  For SCORM 1.2, the default
		points possible value is blank.</li>

	<li>A boolean value indicating whether the assignment is <b>automatically returned</b> to the
		learner after the learner completes it.  Fully auto-graded content is often auto-returned.
		</li>

	<li>A boolean value indicating whether <b>correct answers are shown to learners</b>.  This
		feature is only supported for Class Server content.</li>

	<li>The identity of the <b>user who created the assignment</b>.  This could be an instructor,
		a learner (for self-assigned content), or any user.</li>

</ul>

<p>In SLK, a user can be an instructor, learner, or both on a given assignment.  Also, a user
can be granted instructor or learner permissions (or both) on a given SharePoint Web
site&mdash;this determines who will be able to create assignments, and who will appear in the list
of possible learners of assignments.</p>

<p>Multiple assignments can be made on the same package or document, and each such assignment is
treated as an independent unit.  For example, if two assignments are made on a single SCORM 2004
package, and a given user is a learner on both assignments, each of those learner-to-assignment
associations is a separate learner assignment.</p>

</ul>

<p>For assignments of e-learning packages, when a learner launches the assignment's content for
the first time, an <b>attempt</b> is created.  The attempt contains all information about
the learner's interaction with the package, including the current activity within the package and
the SCORM <a href="MlcDataModel.htm">data model</a> for each activity.</p>

<p><img src="LearnerAssignments.gif" alt="" border="" galleryimg="no" /></p>

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<a name="ScormConcepts"></a>
<div class="SectionHeader">Other SCORM Concepts</div>
<div class="Section">
SCORM defines many concepts not described in detail in this documentation set, including the
following:
	<b>resource</b>,
	<b>interaction</b>,
	<b>local objective</b>,
	<b>global objective</b>,
	<b>run-time environment (RTE)</b>,
	<b>sequencing and navigation (SN)</b>,
	<b>raw &amp; scaled score</b>,
	<b>correct response string</b>,
	<b>completion &amp; success status</b>,
	<b>comments from LMS</b>.
	</p>

<p>To learn about these concepts, read the <a href="http://www.adlnet.gov/scorm">SCORM
documentation set</a>.</p>
</div>

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<div class="SectionHeader"></div>
<div class="Section">
<b><a href="SlkQueriesAndQuerySets.htm">Next Topic: SLK Queries and Query Sets</a></b>
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